IC communication card

ABSTRACT

Apparatus for infrared communication between a first electronic device (10, FIG. 7) such as a notebook computer which has a slot (84) for receiving an IC card, and a second electronic device (104) such as a computer, printer, etc. that has an infrared transmit/detect unit (100) (or another notebook computer with a slot). The apparatus includes an IC card (82) with a rigid frame (112, FIG. 8) having a front portion (114) that holds a connector (88), the frame having a rear portion (116) that projects rearwardly from the slot and that holds an infrared emitter (120) and an infrared detector (122). As a result, the first electronic device fixes the position and orientation of the emitter and detector. The IC card with the emitter and detector preferably has a width (W) and thickness (T) as prescribed by JEIDA and PC CARD standards. The emitter preferably includes a plurality of emitter elements (141-144) spaced laterally along the rear end portion of the card to provide increased power in a small thickness.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Portable electronic devices such as notebook computers are increasinglybeing provided with a slot for receiving an IC card constructed inaccordance with JEIDA and PCMCIA standards. Under such standards, eachIC card has a card length of about 86 mm, a card width of about 54 mm,and a card thickness of about 5 mm. A variety of IC cards are available,including those with considerable memory so that data can be stored in acard and the data transferred to or from the electronic device and thecard. The portable electronic devices may have other input/output ports.

It is often necessary to transfer data between the portable electronicdevice and a second device such a printer, desk top computer, etc. Onetechnique for such transfer is to provide an IC card with a connector atits rear end, and a cable with one end that plugs into the card andanother end that plugs into the second electronic device. Cables can beclumsy and inconvenient, and are not preferred for many of the samereasons that they are not generally used to connect a remote televisioncontrol to a television set. Cables can be eliminated by connectinginfrared emitter/detector units through short cables to each of the twoelectronic devices. However, in the case of the first electronic device,which may be a small portable computer, it can be annoying to have tostore such a unit with its cable and to separately support the firstelectronic device and the unit. An infrared communication system forconnecting electronic devices, where one of the devices has a slot forreceiving an IC card, which minimized efforts in storage and set up forinfrared data communications, would be of value.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, applicantprovides a light communication capability for an electronic device thatis designed to receive IC cards, which requires very little extrastorage and which can be set up very easily. Applicant provides an ICcard with a front portion for insertion into a card-receiving slot ofthe electronic device and with a rear portion which substantiallyprojects from the electronic device and which carries a light emitterand/or a light detector. The emitter and detector are each mounted onthe same rigid frame of the IC card which projects into the slot, so therigid frame of the IC card maintains the emitter and/or detector inposition and orientation. The light emitter and/or detector are eachmounted substantially at the rear edge of the IC card and are orientedto emit light in primarily a rearward direction away from the card andto detect light passing in a primarily forward direction towards therear of the card. The rear portion of the card preferably has about thesame width and height as the front portion, which facilitates storage ofthe card. Considerable light transmitting capability is obtained in thesmall card thickness by providing a plurality of light emitter elementsthat are spaced along the width of the card at substantially its rearedge.

The novel features of the invention are set forth with particularity inthe appended claims. The invention will be best understood from thefollowing description when read in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a partial isometric view of an IC card and electronic deviceconstructed in accordance with one embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the IC card of FIG. 1, with the cover removed,and with some parts shown schematically.

FIG. 3 is a partial sectional side view of the electronic device of FIG.1 and of an IC card constructed in accordance with another embodiment ofthe invention.

FIG. 4 is a partial isometric view of an IC card constructed inaccordance with another embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 5 is an isometric view of a card and separate unit which can beused in the device of FIG. 1.

FIG. 6 is an exploded view of an IC card of the prior art and of a cableconnector assembly mateable therewith.

FIG. 7 is a partial isometric view of an IC card and first electronicdevice, shown in communication with a second electronic device.

FIG. 8 is an isometric view of the IC card of FIG. 7, with the top coverremoved.

FIG. 9 is an enlarged view of a portion of the IC card of FIG. 8.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram of circuitry of the IC card of FIG. 8.

FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram of emitter and detector driving circuitryof the IC card of FIG. 8.

FIG. 12 is a partial isometric view of two IC cards and two electronicdevices, each similar to those of FIG. 1, showing them in communicationwith each other.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

FIG. 1 illustrates an electronic device 10 and an IC card 12 lying in aslot 14 of the electronic device. The IC card has a rear edge 16,projecting from the electronic device. An infrared emitter 20 and aninfrared detector 22 lie substantially at the rear edge of the card andtransmit and receive data. In most cases, the data to be transmitted isstored and/or generated in the electronic device 10. The data is passedthrough a device connector 24 at the forward or innermost end of theslot 14 to a card connector 26 at the front end of the card. That datais used to modulate the light output of the infrared emitter 20.Similarly, in most cases the data represented by modulation of theinfrared light detected by detector 22 is converted into electricalsignals which are transmitted between the connectors 24, 26 to circuitrywithin the electronic device 10. There can be cases where thetransmitted and/or received data is stored in a memory chip within theIC card itself.

FIG. 2 shows the IC card 12 with the card connector 26 at its front end,with the emitter and detector 20, 22 lying at the rear edge portion 16.A control circuit 30 controls the flow of signals representing databetween terminals of the card connector 26 and the emitter and detector20, 22.

FIG. 3 illustrates an IC card 40 which is similar to that of FIGS. 1 and2, except that the card 40 has a rear portion 42 which is of a thicknessmuch greater than that of the forward card portion 44 that fits into aslot of the electronic device 10. The enlarged rear portion can behelpful to accommodate larger emitters and detectors.

FIG. 4 shows a portion of another IC card 50, wherein the rear edgeportion 52 includes a cylindrical lens 54. The cylindrical lens 54,which is about half of a cylinder, collects light lying above or belowthe horizontal plane 56 of the card to provide more light for thedetector, and also directs light emerging from the emitter so it extendsmore horizontally,

FIG. 5 shows a combination of an IC card 60, an infraredtransmit/receive unit 62, and a cable 64. This arrangement provides anIC card 60 which can be stored in storage compartments designed toreceive "standard" IC cards. However, the unit 62 and cable 64 require aseparate storage area. A case for holding a personal computer or otherelectronic device and several standard IC cards, would have to be buildwith a custom storage area for the unit 62 and cable 64. Also, when thecombination of FIG. 5 is to be used, the unit 62 with its infraredemitter 66 and infrared detector 68 must be placed on a surface, and aweight or other holddown may be required to position the unit 62 despiteany sideward urging by the bent cable 64. However, the combination ofFIG. 5 has the advantage that the mechanical construction of the card 60is similar to that of prior IC cards, which have connectors at theirfront and rear ends. FIG. 6 shows such prior card 70 which hasmulti-contact connectors 72, 74 at its front and rear ends. A cableassembly 76 includes a plug 78 that can be plugged and unplugged fromthe rear connector 74 of such card.

FIG. 7 illustrates a combination 80 of an IC card 82 and an electronicdevice 84 such a notebook computer. As indicated in FIG. 8, the card 82meets JEIDA and PC CARD standards, which require that the card have acard length L of about 86 mm, a card width W of about 54 mm, and a cardthickness T of about 5 mm. FIG. 7 shows the card 82 inserted into a slot85 of the electronic device and held in position by slot guides 85. Itmay be noted that the front of the card has a front edge 87 of about 3.5mm thickness, while the rear of the card has a rear edge 89 of about 5mm thickness. These thicknesses are of about the same magnitude becausethe smaller one (3.5 mm) is more than 50% of the larger one. A frontportion 86 of the card has a front card connector 88 that mates with anelectronic device connector 90 that lies at the inner end of the slot. Arear portion 92 of the card projects from the slot. The rear portion hasan emitter and detector which emit and detect infrared light, forcommunication with a unit 100 that is connected through a cable 102 to asecond electronic device 104 such as a printer. The unit 100 and cable102 are stored with the second device 104, which is usually notportable, so the bulk of the unit 100 is usually not a significantdisadvantage. The unit 100 has a considerable thickness to accommodate arelatively large emitter 106 and detector 108.

FIG. 8 illustrates the IC card 82, wherein a top cover 110 (FIG. 7) hasbeen removed. The card includes a rigid frame 112 with a frame front 114on which the front card connector 88 is mounted, and with a frame rear116. A light emitter 120 and light detector 122 are mounted (indirectly)on the frame, so that the emitter and detector are fixed in position andorientation with respect to the rigid frame 112.

The card 82 includes a circuit board 130 with electronic components 132mounted thereon. The circuit board has a front end 134 with traces (notshown) to which tails 136 of contacts of the front card connector 88 aresoldered. The circuit board also has a rear end 138 with traces to whichthe emitter 120 and detector 122 are connected.

The emitter 120 is formed by four emitter elements 141-144. The framehas a rear barrier 150 at its rear edge, with the rear barrier lyingimmediately rearward of the emitter elements. The rear barrier has aplurality of holes 152 aligned with the emitter elements to pass lightin a generally rearward direction from the emitter elements. A infraredwindow 154 is placed immediately rearward of the infrared detector 122to pass only infrared light, and thereby block visible light and otherfrequencies that will tend to overload the detector 122. The detector122 is oriented to detect light moving in a forward direction F towardsthe rear of the card.

FIG. 9 illustrates one emitter element 142 and a portion of an adjacentemitter element 141. The emitter element such as 142, is anoff-the-shelf item that includes a pair of terminals 160, 162 and alight emitting chip 164, all embedded in transparent plastic thatincludes a concentrating lens 166. The holes or openings 152 in the rearbarrier 150 are of largely conical shape, and limit the emission oflight so it is within a conical beam having a spread angle A of about 40degrees (20° to 80°) around a forward-to-rearward axis 170 (about 20°above and 20° below). The rear barrier 150 also includes an opaqueseparator 172 on laterally (direction B) opposite sides of each lightemitting element, to block any light from passing through an openinglying in front of a different element. Such separators block light fromreaching other detectors of other devices in the vicinity, andgenerating noise in them.

Each emitter element is mounted and electrically connected by solderingits leads 160, 162 to corresponding pads 180, 182 at the rear end 138 ofthe circuit board 130. The barriers 172 only generally position theemitter elements. If an emitter element should be mounted in largemisalignment with the axis 170 of a corresponding opening 152, then somelight from that element will be blocked, and will not interfere withdetectors of other electronic devices in the immediate environment. Thefact that there are a plurality of different emitter elements, resultsin high assurance that there will be light transmitted throughout theintended conical beam of angle A. This allows communication with a knowndegree of misalignment between the emitter and detector elements of thetwo electronic devices. The provision of a plurality of emitter elementsthat are laterally spaced in direction B (parallel to the width W of thecard) enables the rear portion of the card to have about the samethickness as the front portion, while still enabling considerable lightenergy to be transmitted. Such small thickness at the rear end enablesthe card to be easily stored in storage equipment intended for storageof other IC cards of the "standard" JEIDA and PC CARD shape and size. Itis desirable that the width W and length L each be within 15% of JEIDAand PC CARD standards (86 mm and 54 mm, respectively) and that thethickness T be within 50% of JEIDA and PC CARD standards, to enable thecard to be stored in space intended for storing "standard" IC cards.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram of the electronic circuitry of the IC card ofFIG. 8. Data is transmitted in eight bit parallel format over eightlines between the electronic device connector 90 and the card connector88 to an input/output circuit 190 which changes its parallel input at192 to a serial output at 194. Signals representing data on line 194 aredelivered to a digital control 200 which formats the signals, as bygenerating appropriate signals at the start and stop of a datatransmission, as well as to convert the digital data on line 194 toserial analog data on an output line 202. The signals on line 202 aredelivered to an analog driver 204 which amplifies the signals and usesthem to drive an infrared input/output 206 that includes the transmitter120 and detector 122. The energy delivered over line 210 generatesmodulated infrared light which is transmitted as indicated by arrow 212.Light received as indicated by arrow 214 is detected by the detector 122of circuit 206 which delivers its output on line 214 to an amplifier 215which amplifies the signal and delivers it over line 216 to thecontroller 200. The controller 200 generates data representing themodulation of the detected infrared beam and delivers it over line 196to the input output circuit 190. The circuit 190 delivers the data inparallel form to the electronic device.

FIG. 11 illustrates details of the analog driver 204. Signals deliveredover line 202 pass through a filter portion 220 to an amplifyingtransistor 230. Direct current power from a line 232 passes through thefour parallel-connected emitter elements 141-144 to energize theseelements and cause them to emit infrared light in synchronism (themodulation is in synchronism). The infrared detector 122 has its outputdelivered to an amplifier 240 which delivers its output through a line216. The circuitry of FIGS. 10 and 11 are known in the prior art, andare presented only to provide an example of circuitry useful to energizethe emitters and detectors of the IC card.

FIG. 12 illustrates a setup 250 where the IC card 82 that lies in a slotof an electronic device 10, is communicating with another substantiallyidentical IC card, or IC card element 252 that lies in a slot 254 ofanother electronic device or instrument 256. The instrument 256 is shownas another compact portable one such as a notebook computer. The IC cardelement 252 has an infrared emitter 260 comprising four emitter elementsand an infrared detector 270 which faces in a rearward direction R2 withrespect to the instrument 252. The use of two IC cards or card elementsto establish data communication between two electronic devices orinstruments that each have a card receiving slot 84, 254, makescommunication especially convenient and at low cost.

Thus, the invention provides an IC card with a front portion forinsertion into a slot of an electronic device, and a rear portion thatsubstantially projects from the electronic device and that carries alight emitter and/or light detector. The IC card has a rigid frame, andthe emitter and detector are fixed in position and orientation on theframe. It may be noted that while FIG. 8 indicates a frame 112 which isof molded plastic material, it is possible to construct the card with arigid frame formed by metal, which may be in the form of metal halvesthat form metal top and bottom covers and metal sides and that are fixedto the card connector and or end(s) of the circuit board or mountsthereon. In any case, the frame forms a rigid structure that positionsthe front card connector 88 and the emitters and detectors. Although itmay be possible to adjust the orientation of the emitter and/ordetector, once adjusted they are held in a fixed position andorientation with respect to the electronic device that forms thecard-receiving slot, by the rigid frame. This allows a person to begininfrared communication by inserting applicant's IC card with emitter anddetector capability, into a card-receiving slot. Thereafter, theelectronic device, through the rigid frame of the card, supports theemitter and detector and fixes their position and orientation. Althoughit is possible to mount batteries in the IC card, as where the card hasan enlarged rear end as shown at 42 in FIG. 3, electrical energy isgenerally provided by the electronic device through the connectorinterface formed by the device connector and the card connector at thefront end of the card.

Applicant obtains increased infrared light transmission by the use of aplurality of laterally-spaced emitting elements lying near the rear edgeof the card. This allows applicant to use small off-the-shelf emitterelements that are of small enough size to fit into the card rear endwhere it is about the same thickness as the front portion, and stillobtain a large light output. Although it is possible to transmit lightin the visible spectrum, this is generally undesirable, partiallybecause of interference from visible light in the environment. Applicantprefers to transmit and receive infrared light, of a wave length ofabout 950 nanometers. The emitters lie at the rear edge portion of thecard and transmit light primarily in a rearward direction. The lightdetector similarly detects light passing primarily in a forwarddirection towards the rear edge portion of the card. A plurality oflaterally-spaced detector elements can be placed near the rear edge.

Although particular embodiments of the invention have been described andillustrated herein, it is recognized that modifications and variationsmay readily occur to those skilled in the art, and consequently, it isintended that the claims be interpreted to cover such modifications andequivalents.

We claim:
 1. A combination of an electronic device which has wallsforming a slot constructed to receive a first IC card constructed inaccordance with JEIDA and PCMCIA standards wherein the first IC card hasa card width of about 54 mm and a card thickness of about 5 mm, withsaid electronic device having a device connector at a front end of saidslot, and an IC card having a front portion lying in said slot andhaving a rigid frame that is fixed in position and orientation on saidslot walls and having a front connector mounted on said frame and matedwith said device connector, characterized by:said card has a rearportion which faces rearwardly out of said slot, and said card has aprimarily rearwardly-facing infrared transmitter supported in positionand orientation on said frame.
 2. The combination described in claim 1wherein:said rear portion of said IC card has about the same thicknessas said front portion of said IC card; said infrared transmittercomprises a plurality of separate emitter elements spaced along thewidth of said IC card at rear portion thereof.
 3. The combinationdescribed in claim 1 including:an electronic instrument which has wallsforming a slot which is substantially identical to the slot of saidelectronic device, and a second IC card which is of substantially thesame size as said first IC card and which has a rear portion whichprojects rearwardly out of said slot of said electronic instrument, saidsecond IC card having an infrared detector oriented to detect light fromsaid infrared transmitter.
 4. An IC card which has a front portion forinsertion into a slot of an electronic device and which has a rearportion that faces out of the slot and away from the electronic device,with said rear portion having a rear edge, characterized by:said IC cardhas a thickness and has a width and length that are each greater thansaid thickness; said IC card includes a light emitter and a lightdetector that are each mounted on said card rear portion and that faceprimarily rearwardly; said IC card includes a circuit board havingconductors connected to said light emitter and to said light detector;said light emitter includes a plurality of separate emitter elementsspaced along the width of said rear edge, and electrically connected tobe energized in synchronism.
 5. The IC card described in claim 4wherein:said IC card includes an opaque rear barrier which has aplurality of substantially identical openings with each opening lyingbehind and in line with one of said emitter elements.
 6. A method fortransmitting data between first and second electronic devices, wheresaid second device has at least an infrared detector and said firstdevice has a PCMCIA standard slot with a front end, for receiving afirst IC card having a PCMCIA standard card width of about 54 mm and aPCMCIA standard card thickness of about 5 mm, and said first device hasa device connector at the front end of said slot, characterizedby:constructing said first IC card with a front card portion of aboutsaid card width and about said card thickness and with a card connectorat said front card portion, and with a rear card portion that is fixedto said front card portion, and with an infrared emitter mounted in afixed position and orientation on said rear card portion; inserting saidfront card portion into said slot until said card connector and saiddevice connector are mated, with said rear card portion substantiallyprojecting rearwardly out of said slot; orienting said first electronicdevice so said infrared detector of said second electronic device liesgenerally rearward of said slot; transmitting data signals from saidfirst device through said connectors to said card, and energizing saidinfrared emitter in accordance with said data signals to cause saidinfrared emitter to emit infrared light modulated by said data signals.7. The method described in claim 6 wherein:said step of constructingsaid IC card includes forming a rear card edge and placing a pluralityof infrared emitter elements so they are spaced apart from one anotherin a direction parallel to said card width; said step of transmittingdata signals includes energizing all of said plurality of infraredemitter elements in synchronism.
 8. The method described in claim 6wherein said second electronic device has a second PCMCIA standard slotthat is substantially identical to said slot in said first device, andwherein:said step of constructing includes constructing said first ICcard with an infrared detector mounted in a fixed portion andorientation on said rear card portion; and including constructing asecond IC card which is of substantially the same size as said first ICcard, and which has a rear card element portion with an infrared emitterand with a detector which forms said infrared detector of said seconddevice, and inserting said second IC card into said second slot;transmitting data from said second electronic device to said second ICcard to cause said emitter of said second IC card element to emitinfrared light, which is directed at said detector of said first ICcard.